“Not waltz in,” Whitaker corrected. “Work alongside you. As equals.”
“Fuck that,” I spat.
Jesse stood up, his expression unreadable. “Look, I don’t want this any more than you do. I’ve got a life in Seattle.”
“Then walk away,” I challenged. “Let me buy you out.”
“Did you not hear the man?” Jesse gestured toward Whitaker. “We can’t sell or transfer ownership for a year. It’s both of us working together, or neither of us gets anything.”
The reality of the situation was sinking in like a knife to the gut. Dad’s will had trapped us together, like two wolves in a cage.
“You’ve both heard the terms,” Whitaker said, gathering his papers. “I’ll need your decisions within seventy-two hours. If you both agree to the conditions, we’ll proceed with the transfer of ownership. If not...” He shrugged. “The Montana Land Conservation Trust will be very grateful. The Nelson Ranch would make a beautiful state park.”
I stormed out of the office without another word, the door slamming behind me hard enough to rattle the glass. Outside, I sucked in deep breaths of cold Montana air, trying to calm the rage threatening to consume me.
The sound of the door opening again made me turn. Jesse stood there, looking just as shaken as I felt.
“Cole—”
“Don’t,” I growled. “Just don’t.”
“We need to talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” I jabbed a finger at his chest. “You’re not taking what’s mine.”
Jesse’s eyes flashed with anger. “It’s not yours. It’s ours. That’s what Dad wanted.”
“Don’t you dare call him Dad,” I snarled. “You lost that right when you walked away.”
“I had my reasons for leaving,” he said, his voice quieter now.
“Yeah, you always did.” I turned toward my truck. “Go back to Seattle, Jesse. Go back to whatever fancy life you’ve built for yourself. The ranch doesn’t need you.”
“And lose everything? Letyoulose everything?” He followed me. “Look, I don’t want this any more than you do, but?—”
I whirled around, getting right in his face. “But what? You think we can play happy family for a year? Live in the same house? Work side by side like nothing happened?”
Something flickered in those hazel eyes of his. It was uncertainty, maybe even fear. Good. He should be afraid.
“I don’t want the ranch, Cole,” he said, his voice gentler now. “And I don’t want to stay here. But…”
“But what?!” I snapped. “Stop wastin’ my time!”
He gritted his teeth. “But I don’t want you to lose it either.”
I just stared at him, not sure if I could believe what I was hearing.
“If I walk away now, you lose everything. And our family’s ranch disappears.” His gaze dropped to the ground where he scuffed his shoes on the pavement. “I know I wasn’t born into this family, but I don’t want to see generations of hard work go to waste any more than you do.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said after a moment of silence. “Why the hell do you give a shit? This ranch never meant anythin’ to you before.”
Jesse just shook his head. “You know that’s not true, Cole.” He pushed his way past me, heading for his rental. “And if you took your head out of your ass for once in your life, you’d see that I’m trying to do some right by you.”
“I guess there’s a first time for everythin’, huh?” I snapped.
But Jesse didn’t reply, and he didn’t look back. He just climbed into his rental and drove off, leaving me standing there on the side of the road.
I got back in my truck and slammed the door so hard the whole cab shook. My hands were trembling as I gripped the steering wheel, knuckles turning white as bone. That son of a bitch. That absolute son of a bitch. My father, the man I’d been taking care of for the past fifteen years, had betrayed me in theworst possible way, and now Jesse was acting like he was doing me some kind of favor?
